Strike Witches: Price of Peace
by StrikerStanding692
Summary: 2034 was a year that changed humanity. As Neuroi have chosen to make bio-warfare a priority, Ethel Parkin, a young distinguished biochemist and witch, has developed the serum for Neuroi-gene infection. But she didn't do this without making enemies... Available in Wattpad! :) Check it out as your search! :)
1. Prologue

**_Hey, everyone! So... I got a new story I've been wanting to create after a while, and it's interesting... The plot itself. I know I once included zombies and all that, but this one is related to Neuroi, completely nuts, now switching to bio-warfare!_**

 ** _I made an edit to this prologue once! :D Hope you guys enjoy! :)_**

* * *

 **PROLOGUE**

 ** _Ethelreda –_** _Sai Baba quotes 'All action results from thought, so it is the thoughts that matter.' I always believe this to be true._

 _I'm living in a world where there is a history between humanity itself, and a species that is known to be 'Neuroi.' Only a few came to understand that Neuroi are part of this world, and they always seek to find new ways to gain this world by themselves. There's the theory of Yin and Yang between the two species, meaning there is none without the other. This theory, if used by many, is beginning to shift. The Neuroi have suddenly grown desperate._

 _The more years that actually passed, the more strategies they use to try throw us off. It's the same with our species. The only difference is… they have darker secrets than we do. And when we unlock them, it will make those who find it realize… This species is beginning to be a big problem._

 _Witches kept being trained in different times. I for one am a Witch, but I exercise myself more mentally than physically. It's a good thing I did. All the successes I have done made enemies. So I wasn't a real norm in society. HOWEVER, I was heavily known as both an enemy, and a friend… depending on the person I speak to. Those who are my enemies, are people who are against the way I gather knowledge, because like it or not I scavenge for science. I don't just learn it in a simple university._

 _My own profession and career made enemies. That's why I secluded myself from the world._

 _Though I never thought I'd be found where I work. This changes things._

 ** _August 2034… Cairo, Egypt…_**

 ** _2239 hours… In a warehouse of the southwest quadrant of the capital city…_**

A red-haired 21-year old girl wearing glasses looked at the Platform Capsule. She witnesses the green-oozing sample that is floating behind the glass and she was thinking deeply. She was wearing a white lab coat while she observed the sample herself. The warehouse she was in fairly lit. Though its light shines outside the warehouse and attracts attention of the Infected, former humans now hijacked by Neuroi who appear as zombies, the building itself is protected by a magical shield… Three layers of it. Private Military men stand behind the triple-layered magic shield ready to pull the trigger at any time the Infected come to them. Though it wasn't the case, things are changing. The shields are being breached, and one layer at a time is being removed. This made the guards nervous.

She then hears footsteps, and notices a private military man wearing tactical gear, including an armored vest and his assault rifle. He jogged towards her and stopped just beside her.

"Professor Parkin, I just got back," he said. "It's confirmed they're really breaching the 2nd shield layer. One more layer, and they'll bang the warehouse walls."

"They're getting stronger," she muttered with her Britannian accent. Then she spoke as he would hear. "Didn't see anything different from their skins?"

"Well… Don't know. Could be the things they eat or the metals they take in?"

"Could be because they're drifters. If these infected come from another place entirely, I'd understand. Neuroi-infected usually take in metals or consume meat to make them more physically able. This is a problem. Tell your men to open fire with suppressors. What I'm achieving here will change the tide."

What happened next was unexpected. They heard a glass break from a distance inside the warehouse before the power was cut and the lights went out. Multiple automatic suppressed weapons were heard that opened fire. Suddenly, a Neuroi beam was heading straight for Professor Parkin.

"PROFESSOR!" The PMC rifleman got in the way of the beam and the beam hits him instead. He drops dead in front of her.

"ADRIAN!" Ethel shouted just before another Neuroi beam was coming at her. With magic, she summoned a one-handed sword before she swung and deflected the Neuroi beam. And with one hand, she got on her defensive stance, while looking towards the window where the beam came from. "If you will decide to take my success, you'll have to kill me first."

Soon, another beam was coming at her…


	2. Alliances

**_So here's the format when it comes to speaking other languages in quotes:_**

"Text. *Language once seen* Text. *Language once seen*"

 _ **The rule is: Once the asterisk text is seen, the following quoted text is spoken with the language said in the asterisk. Make sure to keep that in mind! I'll be making that a standard. K?**_

 _ **Also... Thanks for giving me reviews! I've been looking forward to improve my quotation formats as well as the way I write stories. I've been active for... two or three years, I think? Anyway... I'll always appreciate assistance and healthy criticism here.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

 **"Alliances"**

It was dark. There were distant echoes of moaning that weren't clear. For some reason, the moaning got closer. Someone's hair was being yanked, and she was grunting in pain as she was hearing the moans. Her eyes opened and she the small hallway's back entrance going far away that night in a house with only a few lights on. She grunted as she looked towards who pulled her hair. She tried to get away, but as soon as she tried to struggle, a man following her from being dragged would kick her face. It hurt her teeth, and she even held her bleeding mouth. Then… She was dragged towards the kitchen as she noticed.

The girl was then brought to the kitchen and was let go there. She was weakened. She felt herself sweat from her head and body for so much had been taken out of her. Then she saw a horrible sight. A woman who was on her knees near the kitchen sink was seeing a man point a pistol he was armed of, at her forehead. "*Russian* No… No, please!" The girl pleaded for the man to not do what she thinks he'll do, but couldn't stop it.

The world slows down, and she widens her eyes. She clearly saw him squeezing the trigger. She screamed her loudest, fearing the inevitable came. The world suddenly blacked out and she opened her eyes, felt the pillow, felt the sweat, and she had to sit up. She panted and tried to get her bearing as she was just feeling like her chest was tightened. Then she realized it was a dream. All of it.

She was in a room that partly lit by the rays of the sun outside an apartment. Another girl at another bed in the same room was awakened by something. She had blonde hair and blue eyes in her basic description and she looked at the girl who was sweating. The appearance itself was a concern as she got off her bed and approached the other.

"Nora?" The blonde girl called out with an accent of a Liberion of broad and medium-pitched tone to the one with black hair and black eyes. "You okay?"

Nora pants but she's able keep her eyes on her friend. "Jynx?" She spoke with a small hint of Russian in her accent with a thick light tone.

"Leila," she replies before she pats Nora's shoulder. "So… Same dream?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry. *Russian* I hate this already. *English* When will it damn stop?" Nora said this in frustration before throwing her blanket away to one side. "This is becoming a bother… So many times."

"Know what? Let's get you off the bed. It's almost time anyway. Remember we'll be given a briefing at 0800?"

"What time is it?"

Leila knew she was asked about the time. And as she looked at her watched, she winced. "We're… thirty minutes away from that briefing."

"Oh shit!"

Nora's surprise was enough to jump out of bed. It made Leila chuckle a little. She always expected Nora to act exaggeratingly and was worried about tasks undone and being late.

 ** _Naval Air Weapons Station, China Lake… California, Liberion…_**

 ** _August 18 2034… 0734 hours…_**

It was a sunny day over the airbase. The air weapons station in China Lake of California wasn't much filled with activity in the airfield. Though… It was given resources for Naval research and future technology for the navy is born here. Most prototype aircraft that's made for naval recon are also brought to this place to test their efficiency and endurance. Not to mention… There are numerous number of striker units that are experimental here and made smaller. But so far, there's only half the progress for making the smallest striker, and the most comfortable one for a witch.

The witches staying here are basically ranged from 19 to 24. The demand for witches are usually getting older, since they're becoming more tolerable at the older age.

 ** _Messhall, Building D…_**

Nora ran into the messhall in a hurry, and there was only one girl with green hair wearing a pilot's uniform carrying a tray towards a table. This made Nora worried at one point. ' _Crap, everyone else already ate up!_ '

The messhall was supposed to be filled with several people, but it would seem the others already had an early start.

Leila saw Nora walk fast towards the counter and was getting a tray. "Nora… We aren't in a hurry. Just a small bite's gonna help."

Nora nodded at the cook, before her plate was poured on by a dish with mashed potatoes and sauce that smelled like cheese. She shrugged and told the cook it was fine with her. She then got away from the counter with the food she need and looked at Leila. "Small bite? I'm gonna make sure I get so much out of this! Might as well be late than be hungry later!"

Leila saw the green haired girl from before and walked towards her. "Sergeant Juny Rocher, right?"

Juny nodded in response as she was sipping her soup with her spoon. She spoke with a Gallian accent and a thick but soft voice. "Staff Sergeant Leila Carson. Hm… I think I've seen you before. *French* Have you gone to our capital? I think I saw your father."

"*French* Not really. My father isn't up for taking me into trips. *English* I might be her daughter, but we always had this militaristic household. Dad kinda raised me and mom that way too." Leila sat across Juny as she explained what her household was like. "So… New here?"

Juny shrugs. "I guess."

Then Nora joins in and sits beside Leila. "So… What did I miss?"

"Tch." Leila snickered. "You took a little longer when you got your food already. What's wrong with potatoes and cheese-sauce?"

"Eh… The sauce won't always help, you know. That's what… Mm-hm."

"Easy. No one's getting fat here." Leila replied before turning her head to Juny. "This here's my friend, Lieutenant Nora Vanchev. Nora… Sergeant Juny Rocher. Anyway… Nora's pretty outgoing only when she's with everyone and she kinda doesn't have the initiative to talk… like right now."

What Leila was talking about was Nora eating her dish quickly with her spoon, and even chewing quickly as well. There wasn't a doubt that she was in a hurry.

Juny had some thought run through her head. ' _It would seem Vanchev is worried about the briefing._ ' She decided to speak up. "You'll be fine."

And both Juny and Leila heard Nora talk with her mouth full before she got back to eating. This made Leila laugh a bit.

As Nora eventually got to properly chew and swallow her food, she looked at Juny. "Sorry… I'm supposed to be leading the unit itself. It's just… Agh… This is so stupid. Who does this? Putting the briefing at that time?"

Leila sighed before she replied. "Take it easy. The brass just wants to make a point with the new witches coming aboard this. After all, they signed up for being in the special ops unit, not flying a striker."

Nora chewed her food and swallowed in some more. "That's not the point. These newbies don't know what they are getting into. First thing we'll find inside the room are certainly looks of confusion. Second… They'll be asking questions. The op that the brass is sending us into will certainly be an operation that could define us. They might not do so much, but in any critical op, they should."

"So what are you worried about, Lieutenant?" Juny asked this to Nora as the Orussian witch was about to take a spoon of her meal but stopped. Then Juny continued with a calm tone. "With all due respect, I believe you shouldn't judge the newcomers at all. *Russian* One who judges the book by its cover is bound to find judgment too early."

And Nora winces of Juny's language, and quote itself. "From Peter Khalikov?"

Juny nods in response. "He's had a great book the past year. It's sad to see philosophers starting to fade at this age."

"You studied Orussian?"

"*Russian* Yes. They mentioned I have high IQ, but all I did was put studies first. I thought this was a language for nobles. *English* But then again, language is equally noble for each one."

Nora was only staring at Juny in surprise. It took a few seconds later to realize that they were all quiet that she actually snapped herself out of the trance. "Well… Okay… Unusual, but you're something else, Juny."

And Juny nods while she smiles. "Je vous remercie! (Thank you!) I don't get praises often, but it's supporting me. Now, I believe we are ten minutes to that meeting."

As Nora inspected her meal was half done, she groaned in disappointment, while seeing Leila and Juny stand up from their seats. She stood up from her seat as well. "May as well head there. No use sitting here if I'm not responsible."

 ** _Building B…_**

Building B of the Air Weapons Station is more of an administrative building, and it houses the superiors of the base, while it also contains rooms intended for presentations and briefings. The only windows in this building in particular are at the corners and sides, so the building's center and other spots not given the sun's rays had bright light bulbs to cover them.

Nora and her company of three headed straight to the briefing room. The building wasn't that filled today, but she was expecting the briefing room to be filled with those involved in the op, as well as the witches participating. But as she entered that room…

…only the three witches involved were in their seats. Nora took a good look at them and acknowledged them. Though it left her one question. ' _Where are the others?_ ' The question in her thoughts made her want to speak loud, but she saw someone familiar. In front of the room was a brown-haired female military officer in her thirties. According to her uniform, she's part of the Army itself. Based on the ranking of her uniform, she bears the rank of Major.

And the same Major saw Nora Vanchev. She approaches the Lieutenant, and the same one saluted her. "At ease, Lieutenant," she said before Vanchev puts her hand down. "It's nice to see you come aboard this, Lieutenant Vanchev. I'm Major Hilda Wesson. I trust your Commander was able to tell you that the situation is of great urgency… and that you're in the international peace division of the U.N. as well. This would be appear to be a special treat or so."

Nora shrugs before speaking. "I wouldn't say it's a special treat for me to be flown here, but wherever I'm needed, I can act in place, Major."

"Good to know, Lieutenant." Major Wesson said before she looked at Juny and Leila. "Could you two give myself and the Lieutenant privacy for the moment? I didn't get the chance to meet her after she landed here." In response, Leila and Juny nodded before Wesson and Vanchev briefly left the room and arrive in a hallway. She looked around and then turned to the Lieutenant. "Nora… You should know. You remember your friend, right?"

"I don't get what you mean," replied Nora. But then she winced and thought: ' _Wait… She wouldn't be possibly talking about…_ ' "…Parkin?" She used the last word to her though. "What happened to her?"

Meanwhile… Juny was seated beside Leila and was observing the sight of Major Wesson and Nora talking to each other in the hallway.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Leila asked.

Though it wasn't Juny who answered the question with the right answer, someone else did, and it was a witch who was seated behind them. "I was hearing a rumor." A 19 year old teen who looked Asian in nature spoke for Leila. She was described to have light brown hair and chestnut brown eyes. "I heard that the great professor had suddenly been cut off communications."

Leila winced. "Professor Parkin?"

Juny joined in. "Ah. I remember some of my colleagues mention her name. She must have been known around Fuso." She said this while she was looking at the patch this Asian girl wore. "You're Fusojin, aren't you? Ground Self-Defense?"

The Fusojin girl smiled and nodded before putting her hand out, offered to either girls to be shaken. "Karibuchi Hitomi! I'm an OR-3, or a Leading Private for short. I've been called on this as well! Nice to meet you… Um…"

"Carson… Staff Sergeant." Leila responded first and shook Hitomi's hand.

Then Juny came next. "Sergeant Rocher." And she shook Hitomi's hand as well, but had a question she'd like answered. "You wouldn't happen to be related to either Hitomi or Takami, are you?"

Hitomi scratched her head and chuckled a little. "You… could say that…"

"She's guilty," said another witch in the room who was yet to be known. She had shot jet-black hair with a long bang covering her left eye and side of her face. She looked to be a little gothic and ordinary and wasn't in a military uniform. And based on her age, she was around 18 years. Her accent seemed to be Liberion and her tone is somehow low-key in casual. "Hitomi and I chat online often when we got free time on our hands. And she's pretty shy. Now she isn't? I wonder.

"Sorry… Pilot Officer Kristine Zimmers. I'm with the 45th Junior Witch Experimental Unit of the Air Force. Looks like I got dragged into this because of my reputation."

Leila winced at what Kristine meant. "Oh crap. You wouldn't happen to be the crazy striker unit test-flyer who flew past two oil tankers on road level?"

Kristine narrowed her eyes at Leila. "They say I had a bad childhood. It's true. I got nothing to live for." But she winced and snapped out of it, then looked at Hitomi. "Maybe I'd live for chatting with Hitomi. She usually cheers me up."

"Oh…" Juny gave the short remark.

And eventually, Leila and Juny looked at Hitomi for a while.

Once again, Hitomi chuckled but in nervousness this time. "Ehehehe… I… Um… I like being friendly?"

Leila chuckled at Hitomi before she smirked. "Yeah. Good thing you aren't an accessory to suicide… yet."

Hitomi then gulped in fear for what Leila said. "Um… I don't want to be…" And it was just about that time that Major Wesson and Lieutenant Vanchev came in to the briefing room.

The Major then got everyone's attention. "Everyone, eyes forward or towards me. If there's nothing else important, this briefing is classified and will remain behind closed doors. Is that understood?" After she asked, the other witches except Vanchev nodded at her. "Good."

The briefing room's doors were then closed by Military Police who guarded the briefing room. No one was to go in or out…

 ** _Undisclosed location… Inside a garage…_**

 ** _2235 hours…_**

Two men in Balaclavas were talking to each other in garage with a few weapon crates lying around, while there was a single-bulb light making an irritating sound whenever it was dead silent around them. It was somehow dark outside, and no other lights are visible except the light they're under. Nonetheless, they had a subject going.

"So… Subject's secured?" One of the men asked, speaking with a Liberion accent.

"Yeah. Feisty one too. No wonder that bitch is called a 'wonder' for anyone." The other one answered also with a Liberion accent, putting his arms crossed on his chest. "Seriously, why does she have to make our lives harder? We already got a good business going until she blew it."

"Doesn't matter. Once we get what we need, we're gonna make sure she's shown in pieces. Our new partner's gonna make this world bleed like she will."

"Hey. Can't always trust an alien. But if they talk business, we talk business too."

But the two men were spooked by footsteps. In the darkness, a pair of red glowing eyes were focused at them. Some hexagons were patterned on what seemed to be a human female's figure, but they couldn't make out who she is.

One of the balaclava men asked. "You're our contact? Looking sick as a Neuroi."

And the female Neuroi figure made a smile under the glowing eyes as part of the face. "I'm surprised you aren't fully startled. Now that the first phase is done, we have reason to finally talk to each other."

* * *

 ** _Alright guys... Here's the details of the character from the last chapter!_**

 **[Ethelreda Parkin]**

Age: 21

Manifests as a witch at: 13 years old

Height: 5 feet 10 inches (177.8 cm)

Hair: Red, usually styled as a single ponytail while her bangs and sides are naturally loose

Eye color: Green

Skin: Mid-Fair to Pale Complexion

Body Shape: Spoon type, Size D's,

Build: Mid-Athletic

Occupation: Advanced Biochemist / Witch

Rank: N/A

Nationality: Britannian

Affiliation: Various military branches in the field of biochemical sciences

Aircraft / Striker: None

Familiar: Crane

Weapons: **_Dragon Dancer (Xingiet one-handed double-edged sword_** – Can be summoned by Ethel. The Jian that she uses has magical properties, still unknown on its origin but for some reason are connected to her. Only she can use this sword, unless she willingly gives this sword for another to be used. Otherwise, the sword will be eternally heavy for the unsanctioned user. ** _)_**

 ** _Next time:_** _What will our heroes expect in the operation that's coming to them? That's up on the next chapter, so I'll be seein ya, Strikers. :)_


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